February 17, 2020

What's on TV? Friday, February 21, 1969

I don't think it's a secret to any of you that my favorite issues are from the Twin Cities; we have a history, the Cities and me. That's probably why I enjoy these occasional excursions into other parts of the country; it gives me an idea of the shows we were missing back home. For instance, without TV Guide I would never have known that Donald O'Connor hosted his own variety show (8:30 p.m., WKBS), just as past issues introduced me to similar programs with Allen Ludden and Tom Kennedy. (I don't count the time I spent in the World's Worst Town™; you could probably put together an entire issue with nothing but the shows we didn't get there.) This week's issue, for the record, is from Philadelphia.

11 comments:

Well-written set of shows on NBC Friday nights--High Chapparel (a more grown up version of Bonanza with an interracial marriage at its center), classy and sophisticated, The Name of the Game and the last year of the original run of Star Trek. Loved Friday night that season.

Gomer Pyle on WCAU must have been the 2 1/2 hour, made for TV movie with the cast of The Andy Griffith Show visiting Camp Pendleton with Ernest T Bass, the Darling Family and Goober who now wants to be a Marine. Their visit is interrupted by hippie anti-draft protesters who try and levitate Gomer's barracks. Hilarity ensues...

- A close examination of the header at the top of this post indicates that CBS's presentation of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, which you erroneously placed on Saturday night in your previous post, was in fact The CBS Friday Night Movie, filling that 2-hour gap in your listing list.Not having this issue to hand, I'll guess that on Saturday CBS ran their usual sitcoms - Hogan's Heroes and Petticoat Junction - followed by Mannix.

- I am curious as to why neither of the NBC stations here seem to be running Jeopardy!, even as a delayed broadcast (it should be running at 12 noon EST). ***OOPSIE!***Just noticed that in Philly, indie Channel 17 picks up Jeopardy! and Eye Guess from their NBC network feeds.Things like that would sometimes happen back in those pre-cable days.

- That said, I'm also wondering why Channel 6 is bypassing Judd For The Defense in favor of a local movie.A quick check shows that this week's Judd is the second of a two-part episode revolving around an off-brand "religious" cult, whose guru is played by a bearded and booming Richard Kiley, who in his turn engages Mr. John Dehner as his attorney; hilarity (legal-style) ensues (not to mention a murder, but that's sort of another story …).

- As part of my due diligence here, I've checked my references for tonight's High Chapparal , which as it happens has been rerunning on Start TV.The episode playing on this date is called "Stinky Flanagan", featuring Frank Gorshin as the title character, a Cavalryman who goes AWOL with a camel.I saw this one, and it's pretty good (assuming you like camels).

- Also tonight:The Wild Wild West is running "The Night Of The Pistoleros", which was filmed, mostly, just before Ross Martin's heart attack.They weren't able to film the tag scene until Martin had recovered, some months after the main production.If you see the show, you might take note of the fact that both Bob Conrad and Ross Martin have different hairstyles in the tag than they do in the rest of the episode (also, Ross is quite a bit lighter in weight, for obvious reasons).

- Finally, you might have noticed that I'm not mentioning Star Trek.Then, now, and ever, I hold this program in total indifference.Have I ever told you about how my brother Sean, who revered hard science fiction above all other literary forms, could get quite obnoxious about Star Trek?Probably just as well if I haven't; let it alone …

Interesting that you reference, Judd for the Defense, Mike. I started to waiver between that and the last season of Star Trek during this time period, eventually causing me to go to college to study pre-law. Judd had strong acting most of the time and had topical plots throughout. There are some very poor copies of it on YouTube.

My Trekkeur brother and I were never close anyway, but there I was, wanting to see Judd doing stories about draft resisters, heart transplants, computer abuses (this is 1967 we're talking about), and suchlike; meanwhile, Star Trek was doing stuff like Melvin Belli's hommage to Gorgeous George - I mean, really …

Hey, Mitchell - while I'm here, do you have an explanation for why so many of my comments from past a certain point in time no longer have my name tagged to them?I've been checking back on some of them, and a helluva lot of them are now credited to Unknown.I do put a certain amount of effort into these screeds of mine, and since I always put my name on them, I would like just a bit of recognition for that effort (now that I'm approaching 70, I think I need it more than ever).Just askin', is all …

No idea whatsoever - thanks for tipping me off to this, Mike. I appreciate those comments, and you ought to be getting credit for them. I'd look into it further, but trying to find someone at Blogger to provide answers, well... Any chance you've changed your login information or anything like that since those comments?

Thanks, Mike. I always enjoy your comments here. Being around 16 when Judd came on and being from a political family, a member of the debate team, etc, it had a natural appeal to me. Plus they worked to made it topical for the times and had decent guests like Rickard Kiley. (I distinctly remember that episode.)

I believe the story goes that Belli was friends with Gene Roddenberry and wanted to play an alien of some form on the show. The Gorgeous George reference is classic and the silliness of the episode has the normally rock solid Kirk getting beat up by a bunch of kids. Not Trek's finest hour but I am still a fan although not to the extent of your brother.

Just curious:Were you aware that one of the kids in this ep was Melvin Belli's son Caesar?I'd guess that that was the main reason Ol' Mel sought out the Trek guest shot … By the way, does anybody here happen to know the cutoff age for having to explain who/what Gorgeous George was?It was back in '13 (I think - have to check) that I sent a comment in to Mystery*File about GG's starring feature film, Alias The Champ (Republic 1949), which Steve kindly transformed into a "bona fide" film review.It's still up over there, if anyone cares to look for it …

J.D.Just thought I'd let you know that "Star Trek" and "Judd for Defense" both have one thing in common. Both themes were composed by Alexander Courage. One other thing, did channel did you see the Star Trek reruns? Was it on Channel 9 WNYS Syracuse or did dorm get WPIX out of New York. :)

I did, Mike. Hollywood was a family affair (sorry for the sitcom reference). As I learn more about Rod Roddenberry who is gaining fame from carrying the franchise torch), I start to recognize how connected Gene was to many famous actors and their families. He had a life way before Star Trek, of course, with shows like "The Lieutenant" and several writing credits on shows in the 1950's and 60's like "Bat Masterson" and "Have Gun-Will Travel." He was well-connected in the world he lived in and no doubt had acquaintances who wanted a piece of Star Trek action (which should never be confused with the ST episode, "A Piece of the action"---once again a unanimous stinker).

interestingly enough, ST reruns were required viewing here in upstate NY during my college days from 1971-75, especially at the dinner hour. My college debate partner resembled Leonard Nimoy (sans pointy fake ears and green makeup) and because of his analytical ability, his nickname became Mr Spock. I still call him that today...

I went to Cortland State (NY)from 1973-75, so we had a jackpot of Star Trek at 5, 6 and 7 on basic cable. WNYS (Channel 9) from Syracuse at 5, WICZ, Channel 40 (with Bowling for Dollars inserted into edited breaks), from Binghamton, NY (NBC) and then ST at 7 from WPIX, Channel 11 in NYC.

From 1971-73, I went to Brockport State (NY) before I had to transfer closer to home to help run the family business. At 5 every evening before we trudged to the the dining hall, ST would run on WHEC Channel 10 from Rochester (CBS).

However, the first year of ST reruns after it went off the air in June 1969 appeared on WNYS Channel 9 (ABC)at 5 pm in Syracuse during my senior year in HS from 1970-71.

And, yes, Courage was on fire back then. The theme song for Judd grabbed you even though the opening tease might have been be somewhat over the top.